


Beauty in the Water, Angel on the Beach

by realeyesrealize



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Established Relationship, M/M, Trope Subversion/Inversion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 09:43:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15482985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realeyesrealize/pseuds/realeyesrealize
Summary: He didn’t know what it was that drew him to it at this time of the month, perhaps the way the sound of the waves crashing soothed his overactive brain, or the way the salty smell reminded him of summers spent in the Isle of Man. Or perhaps the fact that there was still some hope in his heart that Dan would come back early.or: a merpeople AU without the fairytale aspect.





	Beauty in the Water, Angel on the Beach

**Author's Note:**

> written for @phandomficfests trope subversion flash fic fest.

Phil found himself sitting by the sea once again. He didn’t know what it was that drew him to it at this time of the month, perhaps the way the sound of the waves crashing soothed his overactive brain, or the way the salty smell reminded him of summers spent in the Isle of Man. Or perhaps the fact that there was still some hope in his heart that Dan would come back early. He could only guess. But it was a fact that, lately, he had found solace more often than not in this deserted beach, far away from the crowded atmosphere of the city. 

He’d come prepared. He sat on a flowery towel he’d nicked from his flatmate, a warm scarf around his neck because he’d learnt his lesson from the previous times where he had to sit in his car with his jeans wet on the bum and a scratchy throat. He was mindlessly playing with the sand, enjoying the way it felt on his fingertips, the lightness of it as he grabbed a handful and then slowly released it back to where it belonged. He wasn’t much about nature, not in the way his brother and Cornelia were anyway, but something about this beach made him feel like he belonged, like he was a tiny part of something much bigger, and he welcomed the feeling that came with it, the one that assured him that his problems were insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe. It eased his anxious mind. His happy place, the place where he’d found happiness again. 

A storm was beginning to form on the horizon, still far away. He watched as clouds began to cover the sky, grey taking over the deep blue that mirrored the one underneath. The wind was picking up too, and then he found himself having to tighten his scarf, preventing the ends from flapping in the wind. Waves began to crash more intensely, the sound almost deafening among the silence of his surroundings. But soon, he started to hear something else. Something that wasn’t the sound of waves, or the sound of the distant thunder threatening to come closer. 

He couldn’t help the way his heart started racing, his mind inundated with memories from the first time. Could it be? Surely not, it wasn’t the end of the month yet. Just like it hadn’t been last week, when Phil still showed up twice. He had told himself he needed to think, to just exist and not live, and that this was the only place where he could do that. But that was only half the truth, and he’d left the beach at midnight with a peaceful mind and a disappointed heart. 

He got to his feet, carefully folding the towel and putting it back into the little bag he carried with him. The thick fog that came with the storm was starting to settle in, making it hard for him to see anything. But, at this point, he didn’t even have to see where he was going, he knew the path by heart. His feet began moving almost subconsciously, walking the short distance to the small cave to the right of the beach. If he had come back, he would be there. 

Phil didn’t want to get his hopes up as he approached the cave. He knew the situation they were in wasn’t easy by any means, and he respected Dan above all. But he was selfish, too. He always wanted more, he wanted more than a few days each month. He wanted Dan, and he wanted him to be next to him in his life. 

He entered the cave and saw him right away. How could he not, when his tail was the most beautiful thing anyone could ever lay their eyes on, a pink and blue gradient that took Phil’s breath away every single time. He followed the line of Dan’s body, his tanned torso, visible muscles across it, and then the curls he knew turned coppery under the sunlight but that were a dark brown inside the dimly lit cave. 

And his face when he saw him, Phil wanted to frame it. 

“You’re here,” Dan said, breathless. 

Despite the cold, Phil wasted no time getting out of his clothes until he was just in his boxers and jumping into the water with Dan. 

“ _You’re_ here,” Phil said. He swam until he was right in front of Dan, cradling his face with his palms and kissing him. He tasted salty, he tasted like everything Phil was starved of. 

“The storm is going to be bad. I’ll be safer here than out there,” Dan explained once their lips were red and full and they’d got their fill of each other. 

“I wish we had a way for you to let me know you’re coming.” Phil wished he was one of those people that lived in the moment, that didn’t think about the consequences of everything they did. But he wasn’t. And the thought of missing Dan if he had stayed home was already burning his way through his brain. 

“The new iPhones you told me about might be good, but I don’t think they’re _that_ good.” 

Phil gave a half-hearted laugh in response. 

“Hey, no, don’t do that. We’re here now. We knew it would be hard,” Dan said, fingers stroking Phil’s cheek as he rested his head on his shoulder. 

“I know, I know. I just didn’t think it would be this hard. Or is it just hard for me?” 

“It’s not, Phil, and you already know that, babe. I fall asleep every night daydreaming about a world in which we can be together and my heart fucking breaks when I wake up and you’re not next to me. And I wish I could be with you every day of my life, but I’d rather we don’t spend the days we _are_ thinking about what could be.” 

Phil was overwhelmed. That was the most Dan-thing Dan could say and he hadn’t been around Dan much lately. Fuck, he loved him. He looked at him and wished he could convey how happy he made him to just be by his side, even if the thought of having to let go again broke him inside. He wished many things, several of which he couldn’t say, because it was him breaking what they’d agreed on, because that wasn’t how things worked. Dan couldn’t grow legs and come home with him, Dan couldn’t give up his identity for love. This wasn’t a fairytale and they were both aware of that. 

But Dan stared at him with that look in his eyes and Phil wondered how he could ever not give him everything he wanted. The discussion wasn’t over, and he knew there were many more to come along the line, but for now, he just wanted to leave everything else at the entrance of the cave and enjoy his time with his partner. For Dan, for him. 

“I love you so much. Give me a cuddle, the water’s too cold for this human.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> Thanks to @drycereal for beta-reading and giving me the push I needed. (She read an AU, people!) 
> 
> Feedback is very much welcome x 
> 
> [Tumblr post](http://tulipau.tumblr.com/post/176420415493/title-beauty-in-the-water-angel-on-the-beach). You can also find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/cloudfIuffer).


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